


West of Cannon

by xxx_Calliope69_xxx



Category: Henry Stickmin Series (Video Games)
Genre: Henry's a rootin tootin outlaw!, Wildwest/steampunk au, and he's got a horse!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-30
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:06:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26734825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xxx_Calliope69_xxx/pseuds/xxx_Calliope69_xxx
Summary: Henry has been an outlaw for as long as he can remember, which is fine by him. But things are changing, new steam-powered technology is emerging, making his old tricks harder to pull off, and some Cadian-Russian lawmen is trying to bring him to justice
Comments: 10
Kudos: 38





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This au was created by the lovely twilightdaisi on Tumblr! definitely check them out, they and their art are great!

It’s was a beautiful night, and Henry was a horrible bandit. He and his horse, Scooter, sat next to each other atop the hill, eyeing the museum greedily. In it sat their next big haul, the Tunisian Diamond. The only thing in the way was the guards and all their new steam-powered technology. 

Henry may not have a steam-powered gun or a mechanical horse. But he had an iron will and a plan. That plan being to go in guns blazing and leave before they had a chance to catch him. Barebones, yes, but it worked before when he robbed other places.

Henry stood up, giving his body a good stretch so he wouldn’t pull anything when whipping around and lifting anything. Scooter looked lazily up at him, annoyedly standing up and stretching as well. Henry gave him a pat on the snout, then hopped up on his back. 

Henry took a deep breath, emptying his mind of anything that didn’t have to do with crime. Crime… and breathing.

Then he snapped the reigns and they took off. Scooter flew down the hill at a terrifying speed, all but leaving scorch marks in his wake. One of the guards stationed at the front saw him, pointing at him, waving at the other to get his gun. But they were quicker. Henry whipped out his gun and shot the ornate glass door, weakening it. Then scooter rammed into the guard and the door, shattering it and the probably the guard’s spine. 

The guard in the room stared at him. Before he could say anything or stop him they rushed past. Henry heard him pick up the phone on the desk and sent out a message about a breach heading towards the medieval section. 

They galloped into that room with medieval artifacts, where three guards were waiting at the door for him, guns and clubs drawn. Henry snatched a shield from an open display case and held in front of Scooter. The bullets got caught in its thick metal, and the guards club smack was deflected.

They almost shot straight past the diamond, but luckily Henry noticed and ground scooter to a halt. He snorted angrily at the hard tug, and Henry gave him an apologetic pat. They trotted back over the diamond, safety behind a box made of ornate metal moldings. It had enough open space to see the diamond, but not enough to grab it, or even reach your hand inside.

Henry snorted at the attempt to prevent theft, tucked the shield in his saddlebag, and patted Scooter on the hind leg. Scooter posited himself to where the box was right behind him and gave it a hard kick, breaking it clean off its podium. Henry hopped off and grabbed the diamond from it’s newly broken case. He took the lasso from his belt and wrapped it around the diamond. He gave it a few test tugs, making sure it wouldn’t break, then tied the other half around his waist. He trudged back over to Scooter and hopped back on.

He didn’t need to snap the reigns, Scooter was already off, flying through an open back door and onto the street. Their escape was illuminated by gas lamps, and the only thing they could hear was Scooter’s hooves frantically running down the brick road. Then they heard the robotic whines of Mechanical horses and the sirens of police. Two officers appeared behind him atop a mechanical horse carrying a metal carriage. The one in front steered while the one on the back aimed his pistol and Henry’s neck. Henry readjusted his hat and face bandana, making sure his face was covered so the cops wouldn’t know who he was.

A bullet flew past him, giving him his chance. While the gun reloaded itself, Henry whipped around and shot him in the ribs, sending him tumbling off. 

“No! Johhny!” The officer cried. He grabbed the phone from the horse’s neck and cried into it, “Officer down! Repeat, officer down!”

Like it was just waiting for this moment, a small airship flew over. A man was on the left wing with a gun Henry had never seen before, long and thin, with something on top that he was looking into. He aimed at Henry’s head, getting ready to shoot. Henry grabbed the shield from his saddlebag and covered his and Scooters’ head. 

The bullets bounced off the shield. Protecting them until they went into a tunnel. Once inside, Henry flung the Sheild at the horse’s leg. It went straight through and the horse crashed to the ground with a small, steamy, explosion.

Henry watched the explosion happen behind him, and two more police carriages come out of it. He heard his horse neigh and whipped his head back around. The bridge was out, and they were heading straight towards the gap. He pulled hard on the reigns, managing to skid them to a halt. 

The cops got off their horses, aiming their guns at him. Scooter nervously stepped backward, fighting against Henry’s tugs to keep him still. 

“Sir!” one of the cops yelled, “Dismount your horse and put your hands where I can see them, I will not hesitate to go ape shit on-”

Scooter lost his footing, and they fell off the bridge. The cop shot out of surprise, but it was no use. They had been swept up by the current, rushing down the river with no control. Scooter tried getting on Henry’s shoulders, desperate to stay above water, But Henry kept knocking him off so he wouldn’t drown. Something he was already struggling not to do because of the diamond’s weight. It, amazingly, stayed tied to his waist. 

A convergence with another current knocked them onto the bank. Once they hit land, Scooter rushed away from the water, shaking the wetness from his coat. Henry just laid on the ground, face in the dirt with a boot missing. Scooter trotted over and grabbed the collar of his shirt, lifting him up as best he could. Henry smiled and gave him and several appreciative pats on the neck.

He looked back at the diamond, grabbing the rope and dragging it closer. He picked it up and smiled.

Looks like they had gotten away with it again!

  
  


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dmitri picked up the boot from its muddy prison in the river bank. He put his cigar in his mouth and looked it over with both hands, trying to find evidence that this had belonged to the new outlaw he had decided to hunt. On the heel were carved in initials, common for people who were constantly moving, and needed a way to track down their things if they lost them.

_“H. S.”_ it read. Dmitri smiled, it looked like Henry Stickmin wasn’t so elusive at all. He looked around until he found his employ with the mechanical hunting dogs.

“Hey, boy!” He yelled.

The boy whipped around like he had been caught doing something wrong by his parents. Dmitri waved him over and he came, stumbling over himself and hunching over with nervous, much to Dmitri’s annoyance. He couldn’t have his looking like scared children, think of what sort of reputation would the wall get. 

He bent down in front of the dogs, holding it out form them to sniff. It would be a miracle if they could still get a scent, despite how long the boot had been in the water. Luckily for him, technology made miracles happen much more frequently. The dogs had gotten the sent and begun running north, ripping themselves free from the boys’ grasp. Luckily Dmitri had grabbed their leashes before they could run off without the rest of them.

He annoyedly slammed them back into the boys’ hands, huffing out a, “Get a better grasp on the beasts.”

The boy looked down choked out a nervous, “Y-Yes sir.”

Dmitri grabbed his chin and forced his head up, “And for the love of God, get some damn confidence! You are an employee at The Wall, you are one the most feared people to all criminals, act like it!”

“Yes sir!” the boy said, still nervous, but with much more confidence and strength.

“That a boy,” he said, giving him a fatherly, and painful, slap on the back. He turned over to where Grigori was talking to a woman, “Grigori!”

Grigori turned to him, and answered with a, “Yes Dmitri?” 

“Get the carriages, we’ve got a scent,”

He smiled, and evil, vicious smile, “It’s time to catch our new prey.”


	2. Chapter 2

Henry had never been good at setting up camp. His tent was always just a little slanted, the fire always going out quicker then it should, and for some  _ mysterious  _ reason, the vegetables for his stews always went missing. But despite all the flaws, Henry's favorite part of the day, besides when he got away with a crime, was setting up camp. Maybe because it was the calmest part of the day, or maybe it’s because it’s when he got to eat.

He struck the match and flicked it onto the teepee of wood. It began to smolder, slowly coming to life. Scooter looked up from his wild grass dinner and sauntered over. He flopped down on his side, his stomach being warmed by the newly blazing fire. Henry laughed at his partner-in-crime, who replied with a curt snort.

Henry would’ve loved to just join scooter, to curl up next to the fire and sleep, but it had been too long since he last ate, and his stomach refused to let him rest. He pulled a cooking grate, a pot, and a can of beans out of his bag, and got to work. He put the grate over the fire and put the pot on top of it. He dumped the beans in and went back to his bag, hoping his mysterious vegetable thief had left something for him to add. 

A singular carrot was found tucked underneath a few other bean cans, a bit bent from the weight, but still ripe. Henry glanced over at Scooter, who was passed out from the long ride of the day. He slowly took the carrot out, still watching him for any movement. Nope. Henry looked away for a moment, reaching for the knife on his waist, and felt a familiar hot breath on the back of his neck. He looked back to see Scooter standing expecting behind him.

Henry rolled his eyes with a smile and broke the carrot in half. He gave half to Scooter, who took it and went right back to laying by the fire. Henry cut his half of the carrot into slices and flung them into the pot, giving it a stir so they’d settle in.

_ Snap. _

Henry’s pistol was out in less than a second, pointing at the stranger who just stepped on a branch. Once his gun was out, hers was as well. The woman in front of him kept her trimmed hat low over her face and her skirt hitched up on her belt. She had a serious look on her face, ready to kill until she recognized the man in front of her.

“Wait- Henry Stickmin?”

Henry’s eyes widened. He did not know this woman, and he almost always had his face covered. How did he know her? 

She raised her hat and lowered her gun, a friendly look on her face, “Ah! Sorry about that! I didn’t think I was about to rob a fellow crook! Don’t worry, I have bandits honor.”

Oh, Henry did know this woman, albeit from wanted posters, which is probably how she knew him. Ellanora “Ellie” Rose, a thief who was best known for when she managed to rob an entire bank (it might have been a vault) herself with just a stop sign. She was certainly a threat, but luckily not to him. Bandits honor and all. 

Henry put down his gun with a sigh of relief, glad to not have to get into conflict tonight. Then he crossed his fingers like he was lying and put it between his eyes, the hand signal for bandits honor. 

“Well it's nice to meet ya, Henry,” She said, putting out her hand to shake. He took in and she almost broke his wrist with her grasp, “So, I know I just about murdered ya, but would you mind if I camped out with ya? I have some sausage I can add to the stew.”

Henry nodded and moved to let her through. It’d be nice to add some meat to the pot and to have someone to talk to. Well, someone to talk to him, and for him to nod and gesture back at.

“Much Obliged, Henry,” She said, turning back to where she came from, “One second, let me grab my cycle.”

_ Cycle?  _

Ellie Emerged from the bushes with a vehicle Henry had never seen before. It wasn’t shaped like a horse or a carriage. It looked like someone shrunk the wheels of a bicycle and made them thicker, made it longer, then strapped some steam technology and called it a day. 

“Isn’t this Ace-high? It’s called a steamcycle, snagged it when I robbed this tech show a few years back, it is a hog-killin’ time riding!”

Ellie leaned it against a tree, reached into a panel on the side, and pulled out a sausage and a knife. She went over to the pot and began cutting slices, letting them fall into the pot. Henry went over and sat by Scooter, who hadn’t moved through the whole ordeal.

Ellie stirred the pot and sat down across from them, stretching her arms over her head. Her shirt and vest rode up a bit, revealing a nasty scar on her under her belly button. She noticed him looking, and looked to where he was.

“Ha, forgot about this one, got it from running into a barb wire fence running from the cops!” She said, readjusting her shit back over it.

Henry smiled and rolled up his sleeve, revealing a large bullet scar that the cops had left him when he was also running from them.

Ellie whistled, “Damn, that looks like it hurt. You get the bullet out? Or is it still in there?”

Henry made the gesture as if he was ripping the bullet out and throwing it on the ground. 

“Nice, I did the same thing when I got shot during a barroom brawl,” she unlaced her boot and pulled down her sock, revealing a deep scar on the side of her leg, “It’s embarrassing though, the bastard was Roostered to hell and back, and he still managed to get me!”

Henry laughed and pulled at his shirt collar, revealing an ugly slash on his shoulder acquired in a similar way. 

The two laughed at their similar misfortunes, reveling in the rare feeling of comradery. The stew hissed over them, signaling that supper time was finally here. Ellie took the pot off the heat while Henry got bowls and eatin’ irons. She served them both and they returned to their spots, tearing into their first hot meal in a while. 

Ellie looked back between Henry and her bowl, debating something that obviously had to do with him. He watched her idly, subtly resting his hand on his holster, ready for if she decided that she didn't want bandits honor, but all of Henry's stolen valuables. After a few minutes of back and forth, she decided.

"Hey Henry- get you hand off your gun I'm not gonna hurt you or nothing," Henry put his hand back on his bowl and she smiled, "Anyways, you're mostly a jewel thief, ain'tcha?"

If his saddlebag full of stolen jewelry and gems picked off from people's clothes was any indication, then it was a hard maybe. He nodded and she smiled.

"That's what I thought. So, you didn't hear this from me, but there's a train coming through West Mesa Canyon, that's about 100 miles from here, in about two days. Since it's going through Toppat territory, there can't be any unscheduled stops. Making it easy pickins for a skilled thief to steal the Norwegian Emerald on board."

Henry's eyes widened, he had seen pictures of that emerald before, and it was a beauty like no other, even better than his diamond. He heard about it going on tour here in the states, Norway's current Queen loved to show off her countries riches, but the route it was taking was kept a better secret then the president getting the plague going around.

“Luckily for you, I’m not after the emerald. There’s someone on that train who owes me money. Well if we just so happen to run into each other, doing our individual business, maybe we could help each other out? You help me beat this damn coffee boiler senseless, I help you get away with the emerald?”

Henry gave a thumbs help stealing something, just for beating someone? It’s the best deal he’d been offered in a while, most deals these days being him surrendering in exchange for his life.

“Nice, takes care of my problem of not having any backup; my debtors squirrely, could slip away real easy with only one set of eyes on him,” Ellie sat down her bowl and unbuttoned her vest. 

She took it off and held it behind her head, laying down on it, “I’ll probably be gone before you wake up; I got some business on the coast I have to take care of before I can head towards the canyon, so I’ll just thank ya now. Thanks for letting me stay with ya, I always appreciate a bit of company.”

Henry nodded in agreement, scooting over to Scooter to use him as a pillow. He had thought about pitching a tent, but it was too nice of a night. Warm with a slight breeze, the stars shining clear, bugs had decided to leave ‘em alone, it’d be a sin not to be outside on a night like this.

He rested his head on Scooters’ stomach and closed his eyes, ready for a well-deserved rest.

  
  
  
  
  


_ The rooster had been crowing for a while now, but Henry still hadn’t moved from his bed. It was like the soft, goose-feather stuffed quilt was weighing him down. He knew he had to get up soon, get the eggs from the chickens, and tend to the goats, but there wasn’t any rush. _

_ It was wonderful that he didn’t have to rush. _

_ He could smell the faintest hint of bacon and eggs. He reveled in getting food without having to make it himself or pay for it. _

_ Someone came inside his room, gently shaking him, trying to get him up. But he refused. He heard them laugh, shaking him harder, with gentle words of encouragement to wake up. Then they stopped and- _

Scooter spat water on him. He shot awake, rubbing his face with his sleeves. Scooter gave him a snort and went back to his breakfast of grass. Henry shakily pushed himself to his feet, trying to get his body to wake up along with his mind. 

Ellie was right, despite the sun just now rising, she was gone. He noticed slight track marks heading east, towards the coast. Her steamcycle must be real quiet because he hadn’t even been stirred by its noise.

Henry went over the remnants of the fire and grabbed the supplies still out. There was still a bit of stew hardened at the bottom of the pot, it’s far from eggs and bacon, but it’s edible. He choked it down with last night eatin irons as he packed the rest of his stuff in the saddlebag. Once his stuff was tucked away, he went around destroying all the evidence he and Ellie were here; stamping out the fire, pushing dirt over their tracks, tearing up any grass that his horse had slightly nibbled on.

He stepped back from it once he was done, surveying his work with tired, but skilled eyes. It looked like it had when he found it, a little flat bit of forest, tucked away from the dirt road that lay west of them. 

Henry whistled over at Scooter, who trotted over, ready to ride. Henry smiled and hopped on. The 100 miles from here to that canyon would take less than a day with ‘ole Scoot. So he’d have plenty of time to figure out how to get a horse down a canyon and back out again.

He snapped the reins and they were off, sending small rocks flying once they hit the dirt road. The sun illuminating them with its early morning shades of red and yellow. 

He thought about his dream. Dreams like that we're getting more frequent, not that he didn’t know why. On long tiring rides, with little food or water, he’d flirt with the idea of retiring. He would become an honest man, get a little homestead where his only worries would be feeding the animals on time and getting a proper scoop on local gossip. It was a fun idea, but not one he could ever commit to. 

Henry H. Stickmin was a thief, and nothing would ever change that. Not that he wanted anything too. As hard as it could be, the nomadic thief life was the life for him.

At least that's what he told himself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dmitri picked up that hardened bean almost hidden by the grass. He stood up as he examined it, rotating it with his fingers.

“Hey, boy! Bring over the dogs!”

The boy walked them over and Dmitri held it down for them to sniff. Their eyes went red as they picked up that familiar bandits scent, steam practically foaming out of their mouths as they pulled against their leashes, ready to hunt. 

He smirked, this manhunt was going very well, as Henry always seemed to miss something while cleaning up his tracts. They were getting closer by the day, and it was only a matter of time till he had that bastard in chains, locked behind bars.

“Dmitri.”

Dmitri turned to his right-hand man, “Ah, Grigori! Get the carriages ready, we caught the scent-”

“We found something else.”

“What?”

Grigori held up a familiar strand of red hair. Dmitri’s eyes widened as he took the hair in his hand. He had only seen this shade twice before, and the other person who had it was dead. 

“Well then,” He said, “Looks like we're about to kill two birds with one stone.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh hey, it's Ellie. I was gonna give her a horse, but then I found out that steampunk motorcycles were, in fact, a thing, and y'all tell me this ain't some cool shit? https://i.pinimg.com/600x315/74/9f/68/749f687729347837273ca22c81a8338a.jpg


	3. Chapter 3

Half an hour. Henry had half an hour before his next big haul came tugging through. He whipped the sweat from his forehead with his bandana, cursing the sun for deciding to be the hottest it's been all week on the day he’d be out in it the longest. But he’d be in a nice air-conditioned train soon, so he just had to suck it up and bake.

Scooter didn’t seem to care about the weather. To busy pigging out desert daisies growing from the cracks on the canyon wall behind them. In his quest to eat as much as he could, he was slowing edging Henry off their ledge they were stationed on. Henry tried nudging him back over to his side, but Scooter held his ground.

He rolled his eyes. Here Henry was, going the extra mile to make sure Scooter could tag along and not have to stay tied up in some random town, and he was too busy eating to notice he was about to push him to his death. Henry slid under Scooter to the open side of the ledge, Scooter thanked him by moving into the previously occupied space. 

Henry took his pocket watch out and checked the time again. Only twenty more minutes. That rush of adrenaline he always got was beginning. He was itching for another good haul, that burning in his blood that drove him was pushing him to just jump off this ledge and run to the train, cutting out that extra time. He took off his hat and fanned himself, willing himself to calm down so he wouldn’t get heatstroke.

Scooter must have felt the heat radiating off him because he sauntered over pushed his cool muzzle against his forehead. Henry appreciatively scratched his ear, taking this moment to calm down. 

He slipped out his watch again. Somehow, another ten minutes had slipped by. Henry stood and guided Scooter to join him to the edge of the ledge. Hopping up on Scooters back. Once the train sped through, He and Scooter would jump onto the roof and run to the caboose. They’d hop on board, and while Scooter waited there, Henry would grab the Emerald, head back, then they’d jump out as the train left the canyon.

This should be one of his easier hauls, especially since it should just be him and Ellie.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It had been too long since Reginald went on a trip with his gang. Ever since he’d taken control of the Toppat gang, he’d been busy with paperwork and planning and making sure his gang knew he wasn’t another Terrence.

He wasn’t even planning on joining them, but his Right Hand Man had suggested he’d come along. Right had noticed he was getting stressed, and there was no better way of relieving stress than destroying a train and stealing all its contents.

“We have about half an hour ‘till the train comes through.” His Right Hand Man said around his cigar.

Reginald pulled out the grenade he had tucked away, a vile smile on his face, “Wonderful! And there’s no sign of Galeforce’s Posse?”

“Nah, only non-Toppat we saw was some vagrant and his horse stuck on a ledge.”

“They look dangerous?”

“They look stupid.”

Reginald laughed and playfully punched his partner’s arm, “Don’t be mean!”

“Reggy, we’re Toppats, all we are is mean.”

“Well, you’re also handsome.”

“Shut up.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was a miracle they found out the Toppats were planing on raiding this train. Two Toppats had gotten in a drunken brawl with two of Galeforce’s boys and in their alcohol-fueled rage had let it slip that they were going to steal the Norwegian Emerald and “your mom’s virginity.”

“About thirty more minutes till we reach the Toppats, Sheriff!” Charles said, leading the posse in his little plane.

Galeforce nodded from the second cockpit, making sure his pistol was loaded and ready. They needed to catch the Toppats before the train came through and they began reading it, but that would require swift justice. 

Galeforce leaned out the plane and aimed at a small cactus. A quick nip at the trigger and the bullet ripped through it. 

“Sheriff! Don’t lean out the plane!”

Galeforce chuckled, “Sorry, Charlie! Just wanted to make sure I still got it.”

He put the gun back in his holster, but kept his hand on it; ready.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Grigori leaned on the wall of the train, idly blowing smoke out the window. Once they figured out that those two bandits were aiming for the train, Dmitri had barged onto the train, claiming they were newly hired security, and no one was brave enough to dispute him. He and Dmitri were relaxing in the coal car, stealing a quick smoke before they went back out. 

“How much longer, you think?” Dmitri asked, taking a puff of the cigarette Grigori handed him.

“Not much longer, once we go through this canyon, it’ll be the perfect chance.”

Dmitri nodded, “Good. I’m getting tired of all this hot weather.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Henry and Scooter lept from the ledge.

And landed unknowing of the danger on the train’s roof.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey
> 
> Sorry for never updating

**Author's Note:**

> Henry, you fool, your boot.


End file.
